From Understandable to Spoiled Brat
As much as
I supported Job in the last chapter and found him to be genuinely filled with
good thoughts, today I find him absolutely behaving like a spoiled child who
needs a heavy dose of perspective. What
is it that we call it lately? He needs a
reality check.
Look at
Job’s list of complaints:
- Job accuses God of despising the work of His hands
- Job accuses God of having destroyed him
- Job accuses God of having hunted him intentionally and worked wonders against him
- Job accuses God of renewing His witness against Job and continually bringing fresh troops against him
- Job curses the day that he was born (again)
- Job tells God to go away and leave him alone
Now, I
understand that Job is in a dark spot in his life. I get it.
In fact, I’ve been there. I know
what it is like to wonder so much about his future (or lack thereof) and
genuinely desire death. So I understand
that Job is talking out of his pain and his anguish. I understand and I mourn for Job because of
where he is at as we read these words.
But the
reality is that his place in life is a place of narrow and limited vision. Job cannot see the future, none of us can –
especially when we are in those kind of situations! So it is normal for him to be in a place of
limited perspective. Yet, that does not
make it right to come out and blast God because of our short-sightedness,
either.
The Reality Check
God has a
plan for Job, God will restore Job. But
even if he didn’t, God has a greater plan for Job. Now it is time for the reality check.
Our
temporal suffering is nothing compared to our eternal hope in God. Just because we are in a dark place in life
at the moment does not mean that we will always be in a dark place in
life. There will come a blessed day when
we will stand in the presence of our maker and rejoice knowing that His gift of
true life cannot be threatened any longer.
Oh, what a glorious day that will be!
Now, I
understand that Job’s perspective on eternal life is completely different than
mine. After all, the idea of the
resurrection of the dead and eternal life didn’t really reach its fullness as
we understand it now until about the time when the Persians came onto the scene
in Hebrew history – and maybe even later than that. Certainly Job lived well before that, so
perhaps I will confess that even now I speak with a perspective to which Job
did not have access. So I will give Job
a little slack on this point. If he
didn’t really have an idea about eternal life, I cannot fault him too harshly for
losing sight of a perspective to which he did not have access.
Reality Check For Us, Then
However,
we do not have the same luxury, do we? I
suppose this is where the truth of this chapter hits home for me. While I might be able to give Job a slight
pass on his accusations because he may not have had access to the concept of
eternal life and the resurrection – I cannot give myself the same pass. I know about the resurrection. I believe in the resurrection. I confess that I believe in it every
week! So what excuse do I have when I
let myself sink into those dark moments?
The answer
is that I have no excuse. I must
remember the advice Job told me yesterday.
All I can do is repent of my sin – my short-sightedness – and return to
the Lord with a humble heart while begging for mercy.
Yes, life
is hard. And life is short. And life is filled with all kinds of
problems. But we must be certain to
never forget the promise to come. We
must be certain to never forget the mark, the goal, or the prize. As Paul tells us in many of his letters, we
must keep our eyes focused on Jesus and the prize of salvation and eternal
life. Therein lay the answer to our
grief and our human condition. Oh, how
blessed are we to live after Christ has become our first fruits!
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